German-speaking cities dominate the rankings in the 18th Mercer Quality of Life study, with Vienna joined by Zurich, Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt in the top seven.
Paris has tumbled down the league, falling 10 places to 37th, just ahead of London at 39th, almost entirely because of the city's vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
The study examined social and economic conditions, health, education, housing and the environment, and is used by big companies to assess where they should locate and how much they should pay.
Viennese-born Helena Hartlauer, 32, said she was not surprised at her city's top position. The municipality's social democratic government has a long tradition of investing in high-quality social housing, making Vienna almost uniquely affordable among major cities.
"I live in a 100sq metre turn-of-the-century apartment in a good area about 20 minutes' walk into the city centre. But my rent is just €800 (£625) a month." An equivalent apartment in London would cost upwards of £2,000, and even more in New York, ranked 44th in the table.
US cities perform relatively poorly in the study, largely because of issues around personal safety and crime. The highest ranking city in the US is San Francisco, at 28th; Boston is 34th. Canadian cities, led by Toronto, far outrank their US rivals in the table.
"You don't realise how safe Vienna is until you head abroad," said Hartlauer.
"We also have terrific public transport, with the underground working 24 hours at weekends, and it only costs €1 per trip."
Vienna benefited enormously from the fall of the Berlin Wall, becoming the gateway to eastern European countries that often have historic ties to the former Austro-Hungarian empire.
"Our big USP is our geographic location," said Martin Eichtinger, Austrian ambassdaor to London, who lived in Vienna for 20 years. "The fall of the Berlin Wall helped define Vienna as the hub for companies wanting to do business in central Europe." According to the World Bank, Austria has one of the highest figures for GDP per head in the world, just behind the US and ahead of Germany and Britain, although quite some way below neighbouring Switzerland.
-AFP
